The UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, communicated this proposal to the Ukrainian Council of Churches – where Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims and Jews sit – and received their support, but made no mention of his contacts with Russia.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday asked Russia and Ukraine for a four-day “humanitarian pause” on the occasion of Orthodox Easter, which runs from Thursday to Sunday this week.
Such a truce would allow the safe passage of civilians fleeing the war in the east and the delivery of aid to the areas most affected by the Russian invasion.
“Instead of a celebration of new life, this Easter coincides with a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine,” Guterres said from UN headquarters. “Easter is a season of renewal, resurrection and hope…. But this year, Holy Week is celebrated under the cloud of war. Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance.”
This truce would be coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The secretary general added that the “humanitarian pause” is being communicated in detail to the parties, but he did not say if he has already received a response from the respective governments.
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He added that 12 million Ukrainians require assistance, and that number will soon rise to almost 16 million.
The UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, communicated this proposal to the Ukrainian Council of Churches – where Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims and Jews sit – and received their support, but made no mention of his contacts with Russia.
However, on Monday Griffiths had said that he was pessimistic about the possibility of a ceasefire, since the two sides did not even sit down to talk, and put his hopes in the mediation efforts carried out by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Russia launched dozens of airstrikes in eastern Ukraine on Monday night, including on civilian areas, opening a new phase of the bloody conflict with fighting in the Donbas region. Guterres maintained that “the intense concentration of forces and fire makes this battle inevitably more violent, bloody and destructive.”
With information from D.W.
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